08.04.2025 15:51
The third hearing of the case involving 28 defendants, including Dilan Polat and Engin Polat, who are being tried for money laundering with a request for up to 40 years in prison, was held. The court panel ruled that the companies should remain under the management of a trustee. The court adjourned the hearing until July 9.
The third hearing of the case involving Dilan Polat, who is facing up to 40 years in prison for money laundering, and her husband Engin Polat, among 28 defendants, was held. During the hearing, Engin Polat stated, "Dozens of our branches have closed, people are going bankrupt. Thousands of people are unemployed. This burden is very heavy. I request the removal of the trustee from my companies." The court postponed the hearing to July 9.
The trial of Dilan Polat and her husband Engin Polat, among 28 defendants facing charges of 'establishing and managing an organization for the purpose of committing a crime', 'laundering assets derived from crime', and 'violating the law on organizing betting and games of chance in football and other sports competitions', continued.
In the hearing held at the Anadolu 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance, the defendants Engin Polat, Sezgin Polat, Can Doğu, Ahmet Gün, and Mustafa Özalp attended while their lawyers were also present in the courtroom. The presiding judge stated that the request for the confidential witness to be heard at the Bakırköy Courthouse had been uploaded to UYAP, indicating a risk of revealing the identity of the confidential witness, and therefore, it would not be heard in this session.
"HE WAS SENDING ALL THE ILLEGAL WORKS HE COULDN'T DO TO ME"
A witness, Aygün Yıldırım, testified, "I know Mustafa Özalp because we both did the same job. He was sending me all the illegal work he couldn't do. He was sending me tasks like closing social media accounts. Dilan Polat wanted us to close Neslim Güngen's account for 5,000 lira. Regarding betting, he was the one who met with Yunus Sedat Aydın for five days. The mail-order belongs to me; illegal money initially goes to my company. Everything was built on the entire company. Yunus Sedat Aydın is just an advertiser. In 2016, Mustafa Özalp was a repairman in Ankara; how did this much money come all of a sudden? Many people in the market know this. I have everything on my hard disk. I will provide the names of the bettors he met. Mustafa Özalp asked me for a written program, I didn't do it. Everyone knows who did what," he stated. Defendant Özalp denied all of the witness's statements. In response to the witness's statements, defendant Sezgin Polat said, "If this person is victimizing this many people, this many people will complain about him. If he is making these accusations, I will tell the lawyers, a lawsuit will be filed."
COMPANIES REMAINED UNDER TRUSTEE MANAGEMENT
Defendant Engin Polat stated, "Dozens of our branches have closed, people are going bankrupt. Thousands of people are unemployed. This burden is very heavy. I request the removal of the trustee from my companies." The court panel, rejecting this request, postponed the hearing to July 9, 2025, for the completion of deficiencies in the file and for the confidential witness to be heard.